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Saturday, January 10, 2009

City Hall / Politics Adams Releases Plan For First 100, er, 95 days, In Office...FIRE UP THE WONK SIGNAL!!!

Posted by Matt Davis on Sat, Jan 10, 2009 at 8:48 AM

Landing in the inbox at 6:36pm last night—way to time it for maximum exposure, guys—was a press release announcing Mayor Sam Adams' plan for his first 100 days in office. Although, since he's already been in office since Monday, let's call it his plan for his first 95 days, and counting, shall we?

“The 100-day plan is a blueprint for community action and participation,” Adams says, in the press release. “The plan charts a course, providing goals and guidelines. But it will be driven largely by the people of Portland.”

You can check the plan out at Mayor Adams' website, here. Now, wonks, I need your help. As you may have gathered, my strength as a news reporter in the past has tended to be in shining a spotlight on the victims of government incompetence, rather than examining the source of that incompetence directly. So I need your help to examine this plan and see whether, in your view, it has any merit. Or whether, instead, it's a bunch of hot air. It's also Saturday morning, and I was planning to go get my hair cut. So if you could just, you know, do my job for me, in the mean time, I'd be grateful:

wonksignal.jpg

Adams launched a plan for his first 100 days in office when he became a city commissioner, too. It's a smart move, politically, because it shows he has ideas, and that he intends to execute them in a timely fashion. Of course, it also sets him up for criticism, too, because come 95 days time, people can go down the checklist, and ask whether the goals have been achieved. If, that is, they haven't been "recruited" by the mayor by then. Why does he keep insisting on "recruiting" people? The language is so unfortunate:

The launch of Sam’s plans for his first 100 days in office sets a course of action. It taps into creativity and resourcefulness, and embraces opportunity and prosperity. But Sam can’t make it happen by himself. That’s why he’s recruiting you, his most valuable asset, to help. So, don’t be shy. Let’s dig in together.

The plan focuses on education, the economy, and sustainability, and contains lots of interesting ideas. Although the plan to "meet 100 employers in 100 days" is remarkably similar to what Adams did when he became a commissioner, and one wonders how much more outreach is necessary to figure out how to actually help these people. There's also this:
"Promote and partner with “Chose Local” campaign."

As in, "I chose local?" Let's hope so. Wonks: Tell me what you think of the plan in the comments, please.

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